Clinton County Wind Watch

Document Your Life

Document your quality of life as you're experiencing it now. Videotape your views and the natural sounds and noise levels that are normal for your area. Do this at various times of the day and season. Show how the sunlight affects the rooms in your house at dusk and dawn. Document your TV, cordless phone, and cell reception. Have the health department record the quality and quantity of your well water, and verify the condition of any local streams and creeks. Document the birds and wildlife that frequent the area and the amount of traffic that you currently experience in the neighborhood. And most importantly, make sure the developers (along with those who may lease land to them) know that you and others in the community are doing this. As long as you don't keep it a secret, this documentation is as powerful a "preventive" measure as it might be useful later for proof after the fact in a court of law.

Here are some additional suggestions:

Keep a journal to notice sleeping, noise, general well being before turbines are operating and continue after turbines are operating.
Describe the outdoor sounds and how quiet it is during late evening or nighttime on a clear calm night. Here is an important observation from a noise consultant; "A clear calm night is usually associated with a “stable” atmosphere. This is the time the layers of air above the surface separate and the winds aloft are enough to drive wind turbines to maximum power and noise, although it is calm and quiet near the surface." In other words under these conditions there won't be any wind to "mask" the noise of the operating wind turbine from your home and more importantly your bedroom.
Get a physical checkup of all family members before turbines so there is a baseline record of your health pre-turbines operating. Two factors that have been common in reported health concerns are changes in cortisol levels and immune system strength.
Get a baseline measurement for noise at your home (document day, time, repeat if possible)- take recordings of noise before turbines. If one can afford it, get an engineer to take decibel and low frequency noise readings.
Get a baseline measurement of electrical pollution in your home.
Get a property value assessment.
Take pictures of your view and home; it’s your pre- turbine visual record.

Lodge a Complaint

This page was created to help if you are experiencing disturbed living conditions and/or noise and health problems since the start up of wind turbines near your home. People have told us that the symptoms start when the turbines begin turning and go away when the turbines are off or when the person is out of the area.

Not everyone living near turbines has the symptoms. This does not mean people are making them up; it means there are differences among people in susceptibility. These differences are known as risk factors. Defining risk factors and the portion of people who get symptoms is the role of epidemiologic studies. Chronic sleep disturbance is the most common symptom. Exhaustion, mood problems, and problems with concentration and learning are natural outcomes of poor sleep.

The reported symptoms include:

Sleep problems: noise or the sensation of pressure makes it hard to go to sleep and cause frequent awakening.
Headaches which are increased in frequency or severity.
Dizziness, unsteadiness, and nausea.
Exhaustion, anxiety, anger, irritability, and depression.
Problems with concentration and learning.
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

Here is some sound information on what to do and who to talk to:

Start a daily diary. We cannot emphasize this enough. While it may sound like a tedious chore, it will keep track of everything on a daily basis and is extremely helpful for recalling certain events or noticing a pattern to your observations. It can be crude notes, but the more detailed the better. Make note of the weather, time of day, the wind speed, the atmospheric conditions (foggy, snowing, sunny etc.), the blade direction. Note any physical responses, or any health issues. Any changes in behavior of your children, pets, livestock. All of these are very important, as well as recording the disturbances in the home (noise, vibration etc.)
Lodge a complaint. Start by drafting a letter with the following phrase at the top “Please register this as a formal complaint”. Clearly outline the issues you are having. State your experience, you do not need to use anyone else’s observation to support yours, besides those who reside in your home. It must be your own personal experience. If you have multiple people in your household with complaints, include details for each person.

The complaint should be sent to:

The wind developer or energy company that owns the turbines.
Your local government office( Town, Village, City, County).

Keep a copy of all your correspondence. If you should have a face-to-face meeting or phone calls, make sure you write down the pertinent points in your journal so you don’t forget what was said.

Sample letter to start a formal complaint

Your Addresxs

Your City, State, Zip Code

(Your e-mail if sending via e-mail)

Date

Name of Contact Person (if available)

Title (if available)

Company Name

Consumer Complaint Division (if you have no specific contact)

Street Address

City, State, Zip Code

Dear (Contact Person or Organization Name):

Re: Please register this as a formal complaint

I (describe your problem. State location, date, time, wind direction, temperature, foggy, clear, upwind, downwind and any other important details of the issue(s) regarding your complaint(s). Keeping a daily diary with well documented details. This will help you in this process. If more than one member of your family are affected, write a letter for each individual member).

Unfortunately, the wind turbines are not performing as you had promised. I am disappointed because (explain the problem: for example; the wind turbine noise is not comparable to a refrigerator, the shadow flicker is not easily avoided in newer wind farms, the effects of shadow flicker if experienced are not short lived, as in a few hours over a year’s time. The true impacts of wind turbines were not disclosed clearly or were misrepresented, etc.).

To resolve the problem, I would appreciate your (state the specific action you want). Enclosed are copies (do not send originals) of my records (include copies of previous correspondence with their company and any supporting documents you have kept records of).

I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem and will wait until (set a time limit) before seeking help from the Public Service Commission. Please contact me at the above address or by phone at (home and/or office numbers with area code).

Sincerely,

(Your Signature)

Your name

Enclosure(s)

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